The Dodo Archive

As Boycott Grows, SeaWorld Cries "Digital Harassment"

The public relations disaster at Sea World continues to progress, as the park has finally responded to the recent surge of campaigns calling on musicians to cancel their shows in a statement to CBS News:

This is a coordinated campaign of digital harassment and does not in any sense represent the opinions of the American public. A far better measure is the number of people actually coming to SeaWorld.

This is a coordinated campaign of digital harassment and does not in any sense represent the opinions of the American public. A far better measure is the number of people actually coming to SeaWorld.

So far, Willie Nelson, REO Speedwagon, Martina McBride, .38 Special, Cheap Trick, Barenaked Ladies, Trisha Yearwood and Heart have all canceled appearances. Only Justin Moore and Scott McCreery remain on the docket, but they are also the targets of Change.org petitions (here and here, respectively) asking them to drop the gig. The release of the documentary "Blackfish," which chronicled the 2010 death of at trainer at SeaWorld, has spurred the recent wave of activism.

When Willie Nelson became the first artist to cancel, SeaWorld claimed that it was due to a scheduling conflict. But a Dec. 6 appearance by the country singer on CNN disputed that: "I don't agree with the way they treat their animals," Nelson said. "It wasn't that hard a deal for me." Other artists have indicated that their reason for canceling has nothing to do with "scheduling conflicts," too:

When Willie Nelson became the first artist to cancel, SeaWorld claimed that it was due to a scheduling conflict. But a Dec. 6 appearance by the country singer on CNN disputed that: "I don't agree with the way they treat their animals," Nelson said. "It wasn't that hard a deal for me." Other artists have indicated that their reason for canceling has nothing to do with "scheduling conflicts," too:

Heart has chosen to decline their forthcoming performance at SeaWorld on 2/9/14 due to the controversial documentary film 'Black Fish'.